Ohio Sale Prices Rise as Houses Sold Decline in January

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Average sale prices of houses climbed even as the number of houses sold declined in January, the Ohio Realtors association reported.

The average sales price across Ohio in January reached $234,794, a 3.2% increase from the $227,502 level posted during the month in 2022, the association said in a news release Tuesday. Units sold during the month reached 7,167, a 25.3% decline from the 9,600 sales recorded during the month a year earlier.

The decline was lower than the 36.9% national decline from the 6.34 million units sold in January 2022, reported by the National Association of Realtors.

“The Ohio housing marketplace cooled in January, as fluctuating mortgage interest rates and continued low levels of homes being marketed for sale throughout the state slowed activity,” Ralph Mantica, Ohio Realtors president, said. “However, Ohio’s Realtors remain bullish on the prospects for our marketplace moving forward, as lending rates have stabilized, and we’ve begun to see a slight uptick in inventory levels in many of our markets.”

Around the state, 10 of the 15 markets tracked experienced an increase or remained unchanged in average price for the month compared with January 2022, the association reported. Additionally, all but one of the local markets showed a decrease in sales activity compared with a year ago. 

Nationally, first-time buyers were responsible for 31% of sales in January, identical to December but up from 27% in January 2022.

“Home sales are bottoming out,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said. “Prices vary depending on a market’s affordability, with lower-priced regions witnessing modest growth and more expensive regions experiencing declines.”

Total housing inventory nationwide as of the end of January was 980,000 units, up 2.1% from December and 15.3% from one year ago. Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from December but up from 1.6 months in January 2022.

“Inventory remains low, but buyers are beginning to have better negotiating power,” Yun added. “Homes sitting on the market for more than 60 days can be purchased for around 10% less than the original list price.”

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.